Automatic window-screen.



Patented Jan. 30, I900. .l. L. BUGHER &. F. G. MUELLER.

AUTOMATIC WINDOW SCREEN.

(Application filed m '28, 1991.)

(No Model.)

V FLiL rrt: STATES,

FFICEQ JOHN L. .ZUOHER AND FERDINAND G. MUELLER, OF MILlVAUKEE, \VISCON- SIN; SAID MUELLER ASSIGNOR TO SAID BUCI'IER.

AUTOMATIC WINDOW-*SCREEN.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 642,077, dated January 30, 1900.

Application filed May 28, 1897.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that we, JOHN L. BUOHER and FERDINAND C. MUELLER, citizens of the United States, residing at Milwaukee, in the countyofMilwaukee,Stateof Wisconsin,have invented a new and useful Improvement in Automatic Window-Screens, of which the following is a specification.

Our invention relates to improvements in window-screens,which, in connection with the sash of a window, work automatically and can be attached or detached from the same to either the upper or lower sash on the inside or outside of the window-frame or from the inside or outside of a building. lrVe attain these objects substantially by a combination of mechanical appliances constructed and connected as represented in the accompanying drawings, which, with the letters and numerals of reference thereon, form part of this specification.

Figure 1 represents the rear front of the lower part of a window frame and sash without the screen. Fig. 2 shows in relation to the foregoing one the window-frame with the screen attached to the sash. Fig. 3 is a transverse section of Fig. 1, showing the bottom of the window-frame in top view. Fig. 4 is a vertical section of a part of the window frame and sash on line :0 so of Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is a transverse section of the lower part of the window frame and sash, showing the crossbar of the screen and sliding bar adjusted to the sash. Fig. 6 represents in front view a 5 portion of the cross-bar with detachably-connected supports, and Fig. 7 the slide-bar in connection with the cross-bar. Fig. 8 shows in rear front View a portion of the casing in connection with a roller of the screen and sliding bar at the bottom of the casing; and Fig. 9 is an end view of the casing, showing the same in connection with a hinged door on the end of the casing. Fig. 10 is a sectional top view on line '3 y of Fig. 9 in connection 5 with the movable door and a lever to operate the slide-bar. Fig. 11 represents in detail the slide-bar, one end broken away and eX- hibited in the foregoing figure in dotted lines to indicate its position when in contact with the same, Figs. 12 and 13 showing in detail Serial No- 638,666. (No model.)

the front and top view of the adjustable rear end of the casing in combination with the same.

Our screen attachment consists, in combination with a window-frame, of an extension roller-casing E, bearing a spring-roller, a sliding bar M, and tubes 0 C; also, of the crossbar I and slide-bar K, applied to the windowsash, and a lever c for actuating said sliding bar.

The roller-casing E is made of suitable metallic material open in front and at ends and the upper part of the same bent in semicircular shape for protection of the screen when wound up on the roller H, connected with the casing. The flat base of the same rests in place on the bottom I) of the window-frame, secured by means of T-hooks e e on the said bottom and projecting through corresponding openings 6 in the base of the casing. The same bears a number of guides s s, integral with the material of the casing and at a space each from the other in opposite direction to keep the flat slide-bar M, mounted on the base of the casing, in position during its sliding 7 movements. Said bar is provided with lips it, rising from the surface of the same, to engage with the hooked end of a lever N, secured to the base of the casing, and by its working causes reciprocating movement of the bar to shift the same in or out of contact with the said T-hooks e e for fastening or loosening the casing in its place with the screen on it. One end of the roller-casing is provided with an adjustable extension-piece P, tightly fitting into the same, and is held in position by means of a bolt 5 or some analogous contrivance grooved on two sides, which leaves a narrow flat surface on the same to slide in the slot 6 of the said extension-piece, and is fastened on top of the casing by a screw-nut 7. A small portion of the margin at the end portion of the bottom of the easing is bent over to the inside of the same to form a guide a, in which the bottom of the extension-piece slides in or out in accord ance with the movements of the aforesaid bolt 5 in the slot of the same to adjust the easing into the space between the jambs of the window-frame.

The other end of the :00

roller-casing bears a hinged door L in shape of the casing for opening or closing the end of the same when removing or inserting the roller of the screen. At the lower end of the door is a Wing 3, with a knob q in size to fit the aperture 2 at the base of the casing; also, a lip on the upper end of the casing, which projects over the upper part of the door to keep the same closed. Concealed in the casing is an extension spring-roller H of the common kind as used for window-shades and bears on one end a projecting square end portion 71 of the spring inside the roller and on the other end of the same a round stud, which, as the aforesaid spring end resting in corresponding openingsj in the door L and a" at the closed end of the extension-piece P, connected with the casing to support the roller in horizontal position and by turning the same in one or another direction cause winding or unwinding of the spring inside the roller to a suitable degree. On both sides of the window-frame A is an upright standing metallic tube 0, partially sunkinto the parting-strip of the window-frame outside of the lower sash to permit the upper sash to be raised or lowered without interfering with the screen, said tubes extending from the bottom D of the frame upward to a certain height and bearing a lengthwise-running slot w, which terminates at the lower end portion of the tubes in a concave-shaped opening 61 of adequate size to form a passage for the ends n of the cross-bar I when attaching or detaching the screen.

In the accompanying drawings the crossbar I is represented to be fastened on the lower sash B on the outside of the windowframe and is held in position there by means of 'T-hooks a a on the sash passing through corresponding openings 0 0 on the cross-bar. The same is provided with four or more guides k is similar to the ones on the bottom of the casing for keeping the sliding bar K in position when operated. Said cross-bar is further provided at its ends with 'removably-connected supports G and an oblong-shaped opening 29 about in middle and bet-ween the openings 0 0 on the bar. Said supports have a portion of their sides bent over to permit sliding movements of the same at the ends of the cross-bar for adjusting the length of the same, and the remaining fiat part at the end of the supports is raised,forminga neck,terminating in shape of tubular ends at. The same are of proportional size and in position to fit into 7 the tubes 0 C, while the fiat neck plays along in the longitudinal slot of the same above the said opening 01 of the said tubes. The sliding bar K is'adapted to hold the cross-bar I firmly in its place when in contact with the same, and to carry that purpose into effect the bar is provided with T-shaped slots Z Z, through which the T-hooks of the sash B penetrate, and by the sliding movements of the bar the said cross-bar becomes locked or unlocked on the sash. To perform these movements, the

sliding bar bears in middle of its length between the said T-slots a rivet h, which, passing through the opening 10 on the cross-bar, is operated by an intervening lever c or other suitable device pivotally fastened to the outside of the sash or, if desired, to the crossbar I of the same and has an openingf in the upper portion to engage with the said rivet and a projecting lower end reaching below the sash to facilitate the working of the lever from the inside of a building when attaching or detaching the screen to the outside of the sash. The screen F is of a reticulated fabric of suitable material and properly fastened with one end of its length to the roller H in the casing and with the other end to the cross-bar I on the window-sash, located as aforesaid.

Both side ends of the screen are provided with a cord g, of which the upper ends are firmly clenched by the tubular ends it of the supports G and move with the same inside the tubes and with the connected screen up or down, according to the raising or lowering of the window, whereby the screen is winding on the spring-actuated roller H inside the casing and the cord in the groove 0 near the ends of the said roller to keep it from bunching. Said cord 9 being larger than the slot w in the tubes keeps it from pulling through.

To perform the detachment of the screen from the window on the outside of the lower sash and the roller-casing from the frame from the inside of a building, the window has to be raised and the sliding bar operated by the lever c to unlock the cross-bar from the T-hooks on the sash. In consequence the tubular ends it of the supports G slide down inside the tubes 0 C, and with it the crossbar I and connected screen, until the same reaches the concave opening d at the end of the tubes and relieved from the same rests on the outside of the casing. Meanwhile the screen winds up on the spring-roller II, concealed in the same, automatically, and the cord on the sides of the screen rolls up in the grooves r at the ends of said roller. The roller-casingis unfastened from the bottom of the window-frame similar to the manner of the detaching of the cross-bar from the sash by operating the lever N to unlock the sliding bar M, and the casing can be lifted out of its position, carrying with it the roller, the screen, and the cross-bar.

Having thus described our invention, we claim- 1. The combination with a window-frame and lower sash, of a roller-casing formed with openings through its bottom plate and with guides upon the upper surface of said plate; a slotted sliding bar movable in said guides, and having lips on its upper surface; T-hooks rising from the bottom of the window-frame and extending through the openings in said bottom plate and the slots in said sliding bar; a lever pivoted to said bottom plate, and in engagement with said lips; a spring-controlled roller journaled or supported in said casing, and a screen connected to said lower sash and to said roller, substantially as set forth.

2. The combination with a window-frame and lower sash, of a roller-casing comprising a bottom plate detachably connected to the bottom of said window frame, a closed back and top, and open ends; an extension-piece adjustably movable within one of said ends, and a door hinged to the other of said ends; a spring-controlled roller journaled or supported in the extension-piece and hinged door of the casing; means for fastening said door, when closed, to hold the said roller in place; and a screen connected to said lower sash and to said roller, substantially as set forth.

3. The combination with a window-frame and window-sash, of a cross-bar detachably connected to a horizontal rail of said sash; an extensible roller-casing connected to said window-frame vertical slotted tubes secured at each side of said frame; extension-pieces adj ustably secured to said cross-bar to vary the length thereof and having tubular ends fitting within said slotted tubes; a springcontrolled roller jonrnaled or supported in said casing and a screen connected to said roller and to the tubular ends of said ext-ension-pieces on the crossbar, with the side edges of said screen passing through the slots in said vertical slotted tubes, and traveling therein, substantially as set forth.

4. The combination with a window-frame and window-sash, of T-hooks projecting from a horizontal rail of said sash; a cross-bar having slots for the passage therethrongh of said T-hooks, an intermediate slot, and series of guides; a sliding bar provided with slots for the reception of said T-hooks, and an intermediate rivet in engagement with the intermediate slot of the cross-bar; a lever pivotally secured to said rail in engagement with said rivet; a roller-casing connected to said window frame; a spring controlled roller journaled or supported in said casing; and a screen connected to said cross-bar and to said roller, substantially as set forth.

5. The combination with a Window-frame and window-sash, of vertical tubes secured at each side of said frame, the corresponding ends of the slots at one end of said tubes being increased in width; a cross-bar detachably secured to a horizontal rail of said sash; a roller-casin g detachably secured to the window-frame a spring-controlled roller detachably journaled or supported in said casing; extension-pieces adjustably secured to said cross-bar, and terminating in tubular ends fitting within said slotted tubes, the said ends being of greater diameter than the width of the main portion of said slots, but of less diameter than the Width of the widened portions thereof; and a screen secured to the tubular ends of said extension-pieces on the cross -bar, and to said roller, and having travel in said slots, substantially as set forth JOHN L. nUoHER. FERDINAND o. MUELLER.

Attest:

FRED MUELLER, CHRIST SEHMHARTB 

